Effect of Service Delivery Reforms on Access to Electricity in Rural Kenya

Abstract

Background: Access to electricity in rural areas is critical for beneficiary households, local communities, and the economy as a whole. Indeed, access to electricity is one of the factors that will determine the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030. In view of this, the Kenyan government has over the years, through regulatory bodies such as the Rural Electrification Authority, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and Kenya Electric Power, implemented various institutional and service delivery reforms to accelerate electricity adoption in rural areas. Objective: The study investigated the effect of service delivery reforms on access to electricity in rural Kenya. Methodology: The materials used in this study was part of the larger study that was looking at the effect of regulatory reforms in the electricity subsector on access to electricity in rural Kenya. In this paper, we present data generated from the quantitative component of the study that comprised 384 rural households in Kakamega, Uasin Gishu and Nyandarua counties. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed by both descriptive and regression techniques. Findings: The study found that service delivery reforms notably; Stima Loans and Umeme Pamoja schemes as alternative ways of financing access to electricity, have no statistically significant association with access to electricity in the study areas. The results further indicate that most households (69.6%) do not have knowledge about these service delivery reforms. Conclusion: We have highlighted that most rural residents in the surveyed counties do not know of existing alternative ways to finance their access to electricity. Therefore, we suggest an increase in the awareness of rural residents about the existence and availability of these financing schemes to finance accelerate rural electrification in Kenya.